A collection of images and other items from Disneyland, theme parks and other amusement parks. Also look for images and items I find interesting, amusing or both.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Souvenir Friday- Nara Dreamland

In the 1960s a group of Japanese investors and developers made the trip to Disneyland with the idea of building an amusement park in Nara Japan. When the group was here, they purchased every souvenir they could find and pored over the guidebooks and maps. Then the builders got to work and ended up building a clone of Disneyland with some definite Japanese touches. The first image is a photograph taken in 1964 of the Main Street Station. The next two images are postcards of the park showing the Castle and Main Street from the Castle. The final images are from the guidebook published by Dreamland featuring the front and back cover and one of the pages of their Fantasyland with the Haunted House with satan in it. I have another set of postcards, some wrapping paper, gate handout map and a wonderful full map poster that is designed like the Sam McKim maps of the 1960s. One day if your lucky, I will share them with you....

Wow great stuff. I just did a search to see some pics of the current park. There are a few nice park reports and then I found a post saying the park was closing on Aug 31, 2006! Your post turned out to be an epitaph.....

Even they had Liberty street type of area next to Main Street. Very interesting thing is overall layout of the park look like DLP! I mean the positon of adventureland and river of america looks very similar to DLP.

I never knew elephants roamed amoung the giant Saguaro Cactus!?!Actually the site I saw made the place look like a dump. Main Street had boarded up shops and maintenance vehicles parked all over. The monorail was dirty and rundown. They said the best part of the park was the roller coaster.

I need some help...I am helping to coordinate a tour guide reunion taking place in 2008 and I need to get images of the EARLY YEARS at Disneyland. I am looking for photos that can show this history and maybe some back stage activities of the park in the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's. Anything you have, including costumes, old attraction photos, it would be appreciated. Please contact me at wilder@wilderideas.com...Thanks! Mikki

soo - Nara Closed in 2006 - the Dreamland park is still there intact, but now deserted. Rip-Off - not quite: Disney part funded: remember in the 60's it was near impossible for foreign investment in Japan. But Disney didnt count on a replica; so did try to sue and failed. Disney opened in Tokyo; Nara died within almost the same timeline. Story closed, but Nara was successful for 50 years!

My last trip to Nara (Feb2012) I nearly got caught snooping around the park - its quite a sight to behold...